The Eternal Christ
The Gospel of God did not begin with that first Christmas, because Jesus Christ did not come into being with that first Christmas. This is the deep truth to which the writer of Hebrews alludes as he writes, ‘Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.’ (Hebrews 13:8).
The Gospel of God, which is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, is grounded upon the glorious truth that Jesus is God and, as such, is eternal in respect of his person and his nature.
The Apostle John recognises this and sees the hand of Christ Jesus at work in creation,
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. (John 1:1–3)
This should feel familiar because John is referencing the creation account found in the opening chapters of Genesis, ‘In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.’ (Genesis 1:1). The writer of Genesis will later describe God speaking creation into existence from nothing, ‘And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.’ (Genesis 1:3). John fleshes this out further: God spoke all things into being and,’ all things were made through him,’ Christ Jesus, the very Word of God.
God spoke all things into being. All things were made through, and indeed for, the Word of God.
This is only possible because the Son of God is eternal. John understands this and he wants us to understand that, ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.’ (John 1:1). In eternity past, Christ was; he was with God and he was God.
We understand, therefore, that the pre-existence of the Son of God is inextricably linked to the divinity of the Son of God.
How do we know that Jesus is indeed the Son of God? Because He was with God in the beginning. How do we know that Jesus is very God? Because He was active in and central to all God’s creative activity.
And once when we see that he was, he is and he will always be, we see glimpses of the glory of the eternal Son of God everywhere.
The Glory of the Pre-Existent Son
He is the Angel of the Lord who appears to Hagar in the wilderness.
Indeed, only God himself has authority to say to the pregnant servant girl fleeing her harsh mistress, ‘I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude.’ (Genesis 16:10).
Not, ‘He will surely multiply’, but, ‘I will surely multiply’.
Hagar sees and the writer of Genesis expects us to see, for this makes sense of Hagar’s curious response to the revelation, ‘So she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are a God of seeing,” for she said, “Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.”’ (Genesis 16:13).
Hagar sees that this Angel is more than a mere messenger. Hagar sees that this Angel is the Agent, indeed, the very Presence, of the Living God.
He is the One who stays the raised hand of Abraham as he is about to strike dead his only son, Isaac, stretched out on the altar of Moriah,
But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here am I.” He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.”’ (Genesis 22:11-12).
What Angel has authority to demand sacrifice, ‘ seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me‘? And what Angel has authority to contradict the very command of God, ‘Do not lay your hand on the boy…’ (Genesis 16:12)?
He is the Angel of the Lord who promises that the barren womb of Manoah’s wife (the mother of Samson) will bear life (Judges 13:3).
Surely this Angel of the Lord is no mere angel.
Consider,
And Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “What is your name, so that, when your words come true, we may honor you?” And the angel of the Lord said to him, “Why do you ask my name, seeing it is wonderful?” (Judges 13:17-18)
No Angel draws attention to himself in this way and no Angel would dare take the name, ‘Wonderful’, a name which is synonymous with the Messiah,
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)
And this Angel, called Wonderful, inspires a degree of awe reserved for God alone,
And when the flame went up toward heaven from the altar, the angel of the Lord went up in the flame of the altar. Now Manoah and his wife were watching, and they fell on their faces to the ground […] Then Manoah knew that he was the angel of the Lord. And Manoah said to his wife, “We shall surely die, for we have seen God.” (Judges 13:20-22)
Elsewhere, the Apostle John falls prostrate at the feet of the angel and, in doing so, earns a stern rebuke, ‘You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you… Worship God.’ (Revelation 22:9). Here, however, the mysterious Angel of the Lord remains silent and allows Manoah’s supplications to go unchecked.
Manoah ‘knew that he was the angel of the Lord’, and rightly concluded, ‘we have seen God’ (Judges 13:22).
An Angel who brings and bestows blessings, an Angel who inspires and permits worship, an Angel who is identified as the embodiment of the Presence of God is altogether more than an Angel.
This Angel (or, literally, in the original language, this Messenger) is the pre-incarnate Son of God breaking through and intervening in human history.
The Testimony of the Son
And the incarnate Son of God confirms all that we have just surveyed. Indeed, he goes even further.
On one occasion Jesus is disputing with the religious leaders and charges them thus,
You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. (John 5:39–40)
This is interesting because it provides a window into how Jesus reads and understands the Scriptures. Jesus understands (and wants us to understand) that the purpose of the Scriptures (and, in this case, specifically the Old Testament) is to reveal the Son of God that people might run to the Son of God and receive mercy and (eternal) life.
This then makes sense of Jesus’ declarations elsewhere,
Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question, saying, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” They said to him, “The son of David.” He said to them, “How is it then that David, in the Spirit, calls him Lord, saying,
“ ‘The Lord said to my Lord,
Sit at my right hand,
until I put your enemies under your feet’?If then David calls him Lord, how is he his son?” And no one was able to answer him a word, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions. (Matthew 22:41–46)
Jesus’ intention here is to demonstrate his legitimacy to the throne of David (as the Son of David), his supremacy over King David (as the one whom David refers to as Lord) and his equality with God (there are, after all, two Lords here).
In all of this, however, Jesus affirms his pre-existence.
If Jesus were a created being (like you and me), this reference to the Psalms would make no sense whatsoever. How on earth could David refer to Jesus as Lord if he has not yet been born?
Jesus asserts his divinity and his divinity cannot be separated from his pre-existent nature.
We see the same truth stated even more emphatically as Jesus challenges the Jews, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.’ (John 8:58). The Jews understand the astonishing nature of Jesus’ claims and are outraged and try and kill him.
The Sending of the Son
All of this makes sense of the statements which talk of Jesus being sent from the Father. Consider,
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. (John 3:16–17)
that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. (John 5:23)
And,
…the Father consecrated and sent [me] into the world… (John 10:36)
The Only Son
And this matters because Jesus’ pre-existent nature marks him as unique.
You and I do not exist until God forms us in the womb. Jesus Christ, however, is the same yesterday, today and forever.
Jesus’ pre-existent nature marks him as unique and exceptional and demonstrates that he is who he claims to be: the very Son of God.
Moreover, because Jesus is sent from the Father, he uniquely and brilliantly displays the glory of God (John 1:14) and he uniquely has authority to speak the very words of God (John 3:31-34). We believe and trust Jesus’ teachings because He is the Word of God. We trust and obey Jesus’ commands because he is the Son of God sent from the Father full of grace and truth.
And Jesus’ knowledge and confidence in his divine and eternal nature shaped his earthly ministry. We see this as the darkest hour approaches and Jesus prays,’ And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.’ (John 17: 5).
Jesus sees the cross looming and speaks of it as a gateway to his glory: and now, as I approach the humiliation of the cross, glorify me. How can Jesus pray with such confidence? Because he understands who he is, the Son of God, where he has come from, glory, and whence he will return, to the right hand of the Father.
It is for this joy set before him, that Jesus endured Golgotha (Hebrews 12:2).
Peter Lewis, in the brilliant, The Glory of Christ, concludes,
To Jesus, his past was as important as his future. Indeed past and future were virtually joined, for he brought with him the resources of his eternal Godhead to lift man up to something of the quality and duration of the life which he had always had and which he came to share with men – the life of God. (Paternoster Press, 1992), p. 188.
This is the reality of the Gospel. Jesus is unique. Jesus is glorious. Jesus is God.
And, in the sending of the Son, those of us who love him, those of us who are his, receive grace, mercy and life. This is only possible because, ‘in him was life’ (John 1:4).
The Father sends the Son to display his glory and his grace. The wonder of the Gospel is that we then become recipients of this grace,
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. (John 1:14, 16)
The Father sends the Son and we see his glory, his grace and his truth and, as we believe, he pours out grace freely and bountifully.
This is the glory of the Gospel. We see God. We come to know God.
And he richly lavishes us with his grace.
Grace upon grace.
This post is based upon part 1 of a 20-part bible study series which runs fortnightly on Monday and Wednesday. For more information, email life@firwood.church